Firefighters call for mandatory sprinklers in car parks

The Business Sprinkler Alliance (BSA) welcomes the recently published Berdfordshire Fire and Rescue Services report on the Luton Airport car park fire, which has highlighted significant gaps in current building regulations regarding fire suppression systems in multi-storey car parks.

The Bedfordshire FRS report's recommendation that automatic fire suppression systems should be mandatory in all new open-sided multi-storey car parks aligns with concerns the BSA has raised repeatedly about the adequacy of current fire safety measures in these parking structures.

"The Luton Airport fire has exposed a troubling disconnect between our current regulatory guidance and the reality of modern vehicle fires," said Tom Roche, Secretary of the Business Sprinkler Alliance. "What's particularly worrying is that this £20 million structure, built as recently as 2019, was completely compliant with current regulations yet proved vulnerable to devastating fire spread."

This catastrophic fire is not an isolated incident, as similar events have occurred globally. In August 2023, a blaze in a two-storey car park in Japan engulfed approximately 150 vehicles, while the New Year's Eve 2017 fire at Liverpool's Echo Arena multi-storey car park resulted in over 1,150 cars being destroyed and led to the structure's demolition. Additional incidents have been reported across territories, from shopping mall car parks in Ireland to airport facilities in Norway, forming a concerning pattern that highlights the widespread nature of this risk.

Regulatory Guidance vs Modern Risks

The BSA has observed that current regulatory guidance continues to rely on fire tests and observations from the 1960s and 70s, which fail to account for the significant changes in vehicle design and materials. This gap is understood and the reality was starkly demonstrated at Luton, where the fire spread rapidly among modern vehicles with their increased fuel load due to significant amounts of plastics and other combustibles in their construction.

"While the car park performed as designed under current guidance and regulations, we must question whether this guidance remains fit for purpose," Roche explained. "The Fire Service's report confirms that a sprinkler system would have significantly altered the fire's development and improved firefighting conditions."

Another concern is the integration of car parks with other structures such as when they are built beneath or adjacent to residential buildings, offices, and shopping centres.

The Luton incident has also raised important questions about building sustainability and resilience. The environmental impact extends far beyond the immediate fire damage, encompassing the disposal of more than 1300 destroyed vehicles, the carbon footprint of reconstruction (scheduled for completion in late 2025), and increased emissions from extended passenger journeys due to ongoing disruption.

"What we're seeing at Luton is the true cost of not having adequate fire suppression systems," said Roche. "The environmental and economic impact of this fire will continue long after the rebuilding is complete. These are exactly the kind of long-term consequences that proper fire suppression systems are designed to prevent."

The BSA notes that recent fire incidents where sprinklers have successfully contained car park fires, such as those in Stowmarket and at a Derby shopping centre in 2023, provide clear evidence of their effectiveness. These examples are a striking contrast to unsprinklered facilities where fires have led to structural collapse and total loss.

The Bedfordshire FRS’s recommendation for mandatory sprinklers presents an opportunity to address a significant gap in our building safety framework. "We're increasingly seeing these car park structures integrated with or built beneath residential buildings, offices, and shopping centres," Roche observed. "The Luton car park fire demonstrates why we need to think beyond simple compliance and consider the real-world performance of these buildings."

The BSA encourages all stakeholders in the built environment to consider the Fire Service's findings carefully. As we continue to build and operate these facilities, the evidence increasingly suggests that automatic fire suppression systems should be a fundamental part of their design and operation.